𝗦𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝟭𝟬𝟴𝟬𝗽 𝗛𝗗 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱! Here's "Linus and Lucy", a holiday classic from 𝘈 𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘪𝘦 𝘉𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘮𝘢𝘴, by the Vince Guaraldi Trio, played on my carefully restored (but stock/unmodified) Acoustic Research AR-XA turntable. The XA's 3-point floating suspension (providing unparalleled isolation from room vibrations/rumble and motor noise) and precise, unwavering speed results in the outstanding sound you hear.

First released in the early 1960's, the XA was groundbreaking and in production for well over a decade. It was copied by many competitors (𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 is, 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘢𝘺) including Ariston, Thorens, and notably Linn. [Psst, look up the history of the "Linn Sondek LP12" on wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linn_So... Linn's current Klimax LP12, by the way, costs US$30,150, whereas the AR-XA (complete with tonearm, but no cartridge) was a mere $78 over much of its production run!] The XA, or "AR turntable" as it was usually called, was top rated by both the audio press and consumer magazines, rated a "Best Buy" thanks to its amazingly low price, and was arguably the world's first "audiophile" turntable. Owners included: Miles Davis, Andy Warhol, Woody Herman, and conductors Herbert von Karajan and Arthur Fiedler (of the Boston Pops), yet they obviously could have afforded 𝘢𝘯𝘺 turntable they possibly wanted!

Despite its basic, unassuming appearance the XA was once on display at the Museum of Modern Art.

In order keep the cost down the XA was designed to be as bare bones as turntables get with almost no frills. It's fully manual, no speed selection (without lifting the platter to move a belt, by hand), and no tonearm lift. It did, however (in its original form) have an auto damped-descent safety mechanism to protect the stylus from clumsy people with "butter-fingers" (as AR called them) in case they slipped and dropped the arm from high off the record surface.

This green vinyl LP was released by the Fantasy label in 2012 (mastering in 1988 by George Horn) and to the best of my knowledge is not claimed to be audibly "better", just pretty and Christmasy! The stereo separation oddly varies greatly track to track. My copy was dirty and needed a good cleaning. Even so, you can still hear several pops and clicks, but they aren't too bad. I might upload a better version some day. Some people claim different color vinyl records (not to be confused with picture discs) are inherently inferior but I have not seen good backing science to support this claim, just theories.

𝘈 𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘪𝘦 𝘉𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘮𝘢𝘴 reached quintuple Platinum status (+5 million record sales) in 2022, according to the RIAA. It is the 2nd best selling jazz album of all time, second only to Miles Davis' 𝘒𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘉𝘭𝘶𝘦, which I also posted a song from made by my AR-XA. This video's song was actually first released the year before both this album soundtrack and the CBS TV show debut, in 1964.

Vince Guaraldi - piano
Fred Marshall - bass
Jerry Granelli - drums

Cartridge: Shure M97xE
A/D USB interface: MOTU M4
Phono Preamp: Yamaha TSR-7810 receiver